Week 1 - Meal Prep, Mother Nature & Solo Parenting

This week was heavily focused on food prep, planning ahead and proving to myself once again that success usually comes down to being prepared.

Monday started with a bang when I jumped on the scales and saw a 500g drop. I would like to formally thank the cupcake I didn't eat last week 😂

After my gym session I realised I hadn't meal prepped for the week. Instead of overthinking it, I threw some chicken on the BBQ, chucked potatoes in the air fryer and within about 15 minutes I was sorted for lunches and dinners for the next few days. I work full time and Coach so prep is so important!

Honestly, that's probably my biggest food tip as a mum. Keep it simple.

I usually prep every 3 days and try to make foods that work for everyone. The kids are pretty easy luckily. They'll eat anything I put in front of them without much fuss. Jason and I share the cooking too which makes life a lot easier! (Lucky girl I know!)

Every week I sit down and write our dinners on the wall calendar before doing groceries. It stops me wandering through Aldi buying random specials that looked like a good idea at the time.

But also Aldi sells chicken in a can! Isn’t that weird.. I have tried it, its not that bad….

Anyway my point is.. the goal isn't to cook separate meals for everyone. It's finding ingredients that work across multiple meals.

Tuesday was wet. Really wet. Looks like it was raining all over because in our weekly team meeting Matt wanted to show us all his new umbrella and how it worked, and don’t worry he opened it outside! It was pretty funny, his phone froze so we had to look at a picture of him with an umbrella for a little while!

I still trained, got my steps where I could and cleaned the house. Can someone tell me if crawling around after a toddler cleaning food off the floor counts towards step count? Because I reckon I did about 10,000 crawls daily!

To make matters worse Jason arrived home with donuts. What the fuck. Thankfully I had snacks prepared and survived the attack!!!! They all ate them in front of me………. I secretly gave some to the internet guys here installing our new antenna ha!

I also caught up with some friends at the pub this week. Instead of pretending healthy options don't exist, I ordered grilled chicken breast, asked for no butter on the vegetables and skipped the little coleslaw side.

410 calories. 65g protein. Absolutely elite.

One thing I love these days is that my friends don't make a big deal out of it. Nobody cared. Nobody judged. Everyone just ate dinner and enjoyed themselves.

I also saw my new remedial masseuse this week… life saver!

After years of sleeping like a T-Rex she's currently trying to loosen all the random knots, tight spots and weird things I've collected over the years. I see her every three weeks now and honestly, I wish I'd started sooner.

Thursday rolled around and it was meal prep time again. This time it was mince and potatoes for me, while some of the mince became spag bol for the family. Win-win.

Thursday night however threw me a curveball. I unexpectedly got my lady friend after only a 16-day cycle. My periods are honestly all over the place and ridiculously heavy, so over time I've learned to work with my body instead of against it.

I know the first 24 hours absolutely wipe me out.

So I made a decision.

I didn't train Friday!

Instead I went to bed at 7:30pm and slept until 5:30am.

No guilt. No trying to force a workout.

I simply moved my training days around and used that as my rest day instead of Sunday.

I still tracked my food. I still stuck to my plan. I was just kind to myself.

That's probably one of the biggest lessons I've learned over the years. Consistency doesn't mean pretending you're a robot.

The scale also spent the week doing what scales do best.

Being dramatic.

Up.

Down.

Up.

Down.

The funny thing is I spend all week explaining scale fluctuations to clients, so this week was a nice reminder to listen to my own advice too.

Saturday was upper body day and Jason headed off on a two-night golf trip. I've genuinely never seen someone leave the house so quickly 😂

After breakfast I reset the house, put country music on, baked a brownie batch and was off to soccer.

Being team manager, I somehow forgot to organise the orange and lollies roster this week so I covered it myself. A few years ago I would've absolutely smashed the leftover snakes.

Nowadays I don't even touch them. Progress.

Nola's team moved up a grade and had their first loss. She played goalie and honestly did an amazing job despite the tougher competition.

The rest of the day involved Arlo getting a haircut, screaming through the entire experience and Rocky losing another tooth. Tooth Fairy duties were added to the evening schedule.

BUT WAIT! Oh my stars I nearly forgot!! On Thursday I pre planned KFC for dinner on Saturday and it was soooooooooooooooo good! I got the Chris' Big Bro Combo! (Double zinger no mayo, pepsi max!!) I hit adherence 100%!

Sunday was day 2 of solo parenting and I treated myself to a sleep in. I got up at the extremely rebellious time of 5:30am. I let the older 2 sleep with me as a treat! Arlo joined when he woke!

Then off we went to football after Nutella pancakes and if you've never made pancakes in a saucepan before flipping them into a pan, you're missing out. Perfect size every time. I wasn’t hungry so had my coffee for breakfast!

Rocky played an awesome game despite ending up with a blood nose and someone standing on his leg. Standard football things apparently.

Once we got home and the baby went down for a nap, it was time for leg day.

Then meal prep again. Chicken. Potatoes. Veggies. The kids get crumbed chicken, I get seasoning!!

I also needed more steps, so we did laps around the neighbourhood. Arlo cruised around in his trike while Nola and her best friend rode their bikes.

I finished the day with some brownie that I'd tracked into my calories and ordered groceries so I could make Matt's cookie recipe for the kids!

Honestly, pretty perfect.

Alright here is the Week 1 Check In:

Nutrition Adherence: 6/7 (I ate some chicken I didn’t want to waste because it had been warmed up again!)

Weekly Average Steps: ugh...8,025!!

Training: 5/5 Started my Train Like Casey program! 0 Cardio.

Average Body Weight Change: -700g

The things I'm most proud of this week are:

• Waking up this morning (Sunday) at the lowest weight I've been in over two years.

• Managing my cycle week without a binge.

• Adapting my training around recovery instead of forcing workouts.

• Staying consistent with nutrition despite social events and solo parenting.

• Increasing my protein target to 130g because let's be honest... who was I kidding trying to eat less protein?

The areas I need to improve next week are:

• Replanning my cardio around weather and my new training split.

• Getting my step count back up consistently.• Using my driveway for steps more even in the dark.

• Eating more vegetables.

• Continuing to prioritise preparation because every time I do, the week runs smoother.

The best driveway for steps!!!

Anyway, that's Week 1 done.

One week closer to the goal.

One week stronger.

One week more prepared.

PS.. Shows to watch: Off Campus and Euphoria! Oooooft!